Keywords Born in 1965 Musicians, Folk & Country

Twain began working with rock producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange (Def Leppard, Michael Bolton, Bryan ADAMS) in 1993; the 2 were married that December. The Lange-produced and co-written The Woman in Me (1995) was a slick country-pop hybrid that appealed to both mainstream and Nashville listeners. Fuelled by video airplay, the singles "Any Man of Mine, ""The Woman in Me, ""I'm Outta Here" and "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under" were top country hits in Canada and the US. The album won a 1996 Grammy Award as Best Country Album, and votes from her Canadian fans made her Entertainer of the Year at the 1996 JUNO AWARDS. The Woman in Me has sold more than 11 million copies.

In 1996, Twain hired Los Angeles manager Jon Landau, best known for steering Bruce Springsteen's career. Landau's international experience was brought to bear on Come on Over (1997), which was marketed aggressively in Europe and other overseas markets. The album was an immediate hit with her American fans, however, and the singles "Don't Be Stupid" and "You're Still the One" were substantial successes. In 1998, she won a Juno Award for Country Female Vocalist of the Year. Twain toured extensively for the first time in 1998/99, consistently selling out stadiums in North America. In 2000 she received Grammy Awards for Best Country Song (for "Come on Over") and Female Country Vocal Performance (for "Man! I Feel Like a Woman"). Also in 2000, she was named Entertainer of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards.

Twain and Lange relocated from their home in upstate New York to an 18th-century mansion on the shores of Switzerland's Lake Geneva in 2000. She gave birth to a son, Eja, on 12 August, 2001. With Come on Over's sales topping 34 million worldwide, her record company announced plans for a fourth Twain album, titled Up!, which was released in November 2002; it was again co-produced and co-written with Lange.

The double-CD set featured pop (the so-called "red version") and country ("green version") interpretations of the same 19 songs; an Indian-influenced "blue version" of the CD was made available in European and Asian countries. In its first week of release, Up! topped the US and Canadian album charts, selling over one million copies; the album's run of hit singles includes the multi-format radio smashes "I'm Gonna Getcha Good" and "Forever and for Always." A new world tour began with open-air concerts in Ireland and at London's Hyde Park in July 2003.

The inevitable Greatest Hits package arrived in November 2004 with 21 tracks, among them the new single "Party For Two."Come On Over officially hit the 20 million sales mark in America the following year, bringing world-wide sales for the album close to 40 million and her career total to nearly 90 million. That same year she contributed the song "Shoes" to the Desperate Housewives soundtrack album and was named an Officer in the ORDER OF CANADA.

Twain, Shania
In 2000 Twain received Grammy Awards for Best Country Song (for "Come on Over") and Female Country Vocal Performance.

Author JEFF BATEMAN

Links to Other Sites
Grammy Awards
Search for your favourite musicians and recordings at the Grammy Awards website.

Shania Twain
Check out the official website for Canadian country superstar Shania Twain.